The characteristics of complaints among gastrointestinal outpatients with depressive or anxiety disorders in general hospitals

Objective To help physicians improve detection rate of depressive and anxiety disorders by exploring the complaints of gastrointestinal(GI) outpatients with these disorders in the general hospitals. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted from May to June in 2007.A total of 1995 subjects from 13 general hospitals in China were screened with the hospital anxiety and depression scale(HADS) and patient health questionnaire 15-item (PHQ-15). Meanwhile patients' complaints were recorded. Psychiatrists interviewed subjects scored ≥8 on HADS and made diagnoses by using the mini international neuropsychiatric interview(MINI). There were 323 outpatients diagnosed as depressive or anxiety disorders and 1287 outpatients without diagnosis of depressive or anxiety disorders. The complaints and PHQ-15 sores were compared between these two groups.The logistic regression analysis was used to determine the risk of having depressive or anxiety disorders with the number of complaints as an independent variable. Results Some symptoms between two groups were statistically significant, including weakness(34.1% vs 18.8%; χ2 =18.04; P=0.000), fatigue(9.6% vs 5.7%; χ2 =6.58, P=0.010)and insomnia(7.1% vs 3.4%; χ2=8.87; P=0.003). Logistic regression analysis showed that with each additional complaint, the odds for an interview-based diagnosis of depressive or anxiety disorders increased, the odds ratio(OR) was 1.12(95%CI, 1.08~1.17, P=0.000). In comparison to the outpatients without depressive or anxiety disorders, outpatients with these disorders signifycantly had higher PHQ-15 scores ((11.12±4.92) vs (6.68±4.05); t=16.84, P=0.000). Conclusion The GI outpatients with depressive and/or anxiety disorders have worse mental heath and more complaints, compared to patients without these disorders.These results may help physicians to better identify depressive disorders and anxiety disorders. Key words: Gastrointestinal; Outpatients; Depression; Anxiety